HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
P1299/REM1
PERSONNEL POLICIES &
PROCEDURES/REMOVAL FROM APPOINTMENT
Policy
Guidelines & Procedures Governing Removal from Appointment of Substantiated
Academic & equivalent Administrative Staff on Terms of Service A
Under
the existing Terms of Service A for academic & equivalent administrative
staff, a substantiated staff member may be removed from appointment on grounds
of redundancy, misconduct, inefficiency or other good cause. Removal from
appointment is a serious matter and will only be used as a last resort after
all other efforts have failed. In the event that removal cannot be avoided,
this document provides clear policy guidelines and procedures to be followed in
investigating into the case and to remove, if appropriate, a substantiated
academic & equivalent administrative staff member from appointment in
accordance with what is set out in Clause 16 and Appendix F of Terms of Service
A.
REMOVAL ON GROUNDS OF MISCONDUCT,
INEFFICIENCY OR OTHER GOOD CAUSE
Informal Procedures
2. Clause 16.3
of Terms of Service A stipulates that a substantiated appointee may be removed
from appointment on grounds of misconduct, inefficiency or other good cause.
Before a recommendation is submitted to the President and Vice-Chancellor to
initiate a process of removal from appointment by the Council, there should be
procedures for an internal enquiry within the University Administration to
investigate into the alleged case initiated by a Head of Department/Office or a
Dean of Faculty/School.
3. Any
allegation of misconduct or complaint on inefficiency against a staff member
should be investigated in the first instance by the staff member's Head of
Department/Office who should ascertain if there are objective evidences in support
of the allegation or complaint. The Director of Personnel should be kept
informed of such investigations and, if considered appropriate and necessary, a
senior staff member of the Personnel Office would be sent to assist the Head of
Department/Office in his/her meetings with the staff concerned, by serving as a
witness and keeping records of the meetings. Depending on the seriousness of
the allegation/complaint, the complexity of the situation and the sensitivity
involved, the investigation could conclude with one of the following actions :
4. In the event
that the conclusion is to issue a written warning to the staff member
concerned, the warning letter should clearly specify :
Investigation by the Committee of
Enquiry
5. If the
informal procedures fail to produce the desired positive results, the
Faculty/School/Office concerned should write to notify the Personnel Office of
its intention to set up a Committee of Enquiry to formally consider removal
from appointment of a substantiated staff member on the grounds of misconduct,
inefficiency or other good cause.
5.1 Membership
i.
two co-opted Heads of Departments (in addition to
Head of the relevant Department who will be present to give evidences but
should not be involved in the final decision);
ii.
two co-opted substantiated colleagues from within
the Faculty/School (one from within the relevant Department and another from
outside the relevant Department); and
iii.
a staff member of the Personnel Office at or above
the Administrative Officer rank to serve as secretary.
i.
the other two Vice-Presidents;
ii.
two co-opted substantiated senior administrative
staff : one at the Head of Office level (in addition to Head of the relevant
Office who will be present to give evidences but should not be involved in the
final decision), and the other at or above the Assistant Secretary level; and
iii.
a staff member of the Personnel Office at or above
the Administrative Officer rank will serve as secretary.
5.2 Evidences
5.2.1 In the case of
alleged misconduct, the Committee of Enquiry should consider if
the case can be substantiated. Misconduct may refer to a wide variety of
situations where the appointee could be involved in dishonesty, breach of terms
and conditions of service, breach of regulations and conditions governing
fringe benefits, convicted criminal offence, conduct of an immoral, scandalous
and disgraceful nature, continued unauthorized absence, wilful damage to
University property, physical violence, wilful neglience of duties or refusal
to perform any of his/her duties, wilful non-compliance with University
regulations and/or any lawful/reasonable request from the University or from
any authorized officers acted on behalf of the University, and actions which
bring disrepute to the University or other staff members.
5.2.2 In the case of inefficiency,
the Committee of Enquiry should consider if there are evidences demonstrating
that the staff member concerned has failed persistently to perform his/her
duties up to the expectations of the Department/Office, whether efforts have
been made to warn him/her to improve on his/her performance and whether he/she
has been given opportunity to improve on his/her performance. If the staff
member concerned is recommended to be removed from appointment on the grounds
of any other good cause, the Committee must be satisfied that the
cause in point is a valid one.
5.3 Procedures
5.3.1 The relevant
Faculty/School/Office shall inform the Personnel Office in writing of the need
to set up a Committee of Enquiry to consider an allegation of misconduct or a
recommendation on removal from appointment.
5.3.2 The Committee
of Enquiry shall be formed within 7 working days of the receipt of the written
request.
5.3.3 The Committee
will meet to consider the case within 30 working days of the receipt of the
recommendation. The staff concerned shall be notified in writing by the
Committee secretary of the reason for enquiry at least 20 working days before
the Committee will meet to consider his/her case. The staff concerned will also
be notified of his/her right to appear before the Committee and present his/her
own case in person, and to answer any questions which may be asked by Committee
members.
5.3.4 In case of
urgency, the Chairman of the Committee could consult with the President &
Vice-Chancellor to consider if the staff concerned should be suspended from
duty during the process of enquiry.
5.3.5 The Head of
Department/Office shall be responsible for preparing evidences of the case in
question, while the staff concerned shall be invited in writing to present
his/her own evidences in defence of his/her case to the Committee. All
evidences should be presented to the Committee via the Committee secretary at
least 7 working days before the date of the meeting.
5.3.6 The staff
concerned should clearly indicate his/her wish to appear or not before the
Committee in writing to the Committee secretary at least 7 working days before
the meeting.
5.3.7 The staff
concerned may be accompanied by a friend who is a staff member of the
University (provided that such a colleague has not been admitted as a solicitor
or barrister in any jurisdiction), who may provide advice and moral support for
the staff concerned, at the meeting of the Committee. Legal representation will
not be permitted at the meeting.
5.3.8 The Committee
shall resolve to decide on one of the following courses of action :
(ii) suspension
of eligibility for a particular kind of fringe benefit,
(iii) fine
payable on demand;
(iv)
compensation for damage or loss;
(v) suspension
of employment in full or reduced pay;
(vi) reduction
in salary concomitant with demotion.
5.3.9 All
recommendations of the Committee shall be reached by votes of not fewer than
half of the total number. In the case of an equality of votes, the Chairman of
the Committee shall have a casting vote.
5.3.10 The Committee
shall submit a written report to the President & Vice-Chancellor within 10
working days after the meeting.
5.3.11 The staff
concerned will be notified of the result of the enquiry in writing within 7
working days of the approval of the President & Vice-Chancellor of the
recommendations of the Committee.
Investigation by the Committee on
Termination of Appointment
6. In the event that the Committee of
Enquiry decides to make a recommendation on removal from appointment to the
President & Vice-Chancellor and if the President and Vice-Chancellor agrees
that there are adequate evidences in support of such a recommendation, then
Clause 16 of Terms of Service A can be invoked, and a Committee on Termination
of appointment shall be formed to investigate into the relevant case. Under
exceptional circumstances, in the absence of any recommendation from the
Committee of Enquiry, the President & Vice-Chancellor should have the
absolute discretion to initiate the process on removal from appointment of any
academic or equivalent administrative staff, including the Vice-Presidents, the
Deans of Faculties/Schools and Heads of Offices, if he is satisfied that there
are adequate evidences in support of such investigation.
6.1 Membership
The Committee of Termination of
Appointment shall be constituted by the Chairman of the Personnel Committee of
Council, comprising 5 members of the Personnel Committee (of which at least 2
must be lay members) and to be chaired by one of the lay members.
6.2 Procedures
6.2.1 Upon
the recommendation of the President & Vice-Chancellor to initiate the
process of removal of an appointee from appointment based on the recommendation
of the Committee of Enquiry, the Committee on Termination of Appointment shall
be formed to investigate into the relevant case. The Committee shall be
constituted by the Chairman of the Personnel Committee of Council and must be
set up within 10 working days upon receipt of the recommendation.
6.2.2 The
Committee will meet to consider the case within 30 working days after it is set
up.
6.2.3 The staff
concerned shall be notified in writing, at least 20 working days before the
meeting of the Committee, of all allegations made against him/her and his/her
right to appear before the Committee and present his/her own defence in person,
and to answer any questions which may be asked by Committee members, and to
call any witnesses.
6.2.4 The staff
concerned shall clearly indicate his/her will to appear or not before the
Committee in writing to the Committee Secretary at least 7 working days before
the meeting.
6.2.5 The
Chairman of the Committee of Enquiry /the President & Vice-Chancellor, as
the case may be, shall be responsible for preparing evidences of the case in
question and may call any witnesses. Evidences and names of the witnesses to be
called should be submitted to the Committee secretary at least 7 working days
before the meeting.
6.2.6 The staff
concerned will be invited in writing to present his/her own evidences in defence
of his/her case to the Committee. Evidences and names of the witnesses to be
called should be submitted to the Committee secretary at least 7 working days
before the meeting.
6.2.7 The staff
concerned shall be entitled to be accompanied by a friend who is a staff member
of the University (provided that such a colleague has not been admitted as a
solicitor or barrister in any jurisdiction), who may provide advice and moral
support for the staff concerned, at the meeting of the Committee. Legal representation
will not be permitted at the meeting.
6.2.8 All
decisions of the Committee shall be reached by votes of not fewer than half of
the total number. In the case of an equality of votes, the Chairman of the
Committee shall have a casting vote.
6.2.9 The
Committee shall submit a written report to the Chairman of the Personnel
Committee and copy it to the President & Vice-Chancellor and the Chairman
of the Committee of Enquiry within 10 working days after the meeting.
6.2.10 The
staff concerned will be notified of the result of the investigation in writing
within 10 working days upon the decision of the Committee.
6.2.11 The
procedure relating to the removal from appointment or suspension of the
Academic Vice-President and Vice-Presidents shall be identical with that
specified in the foregoing paragraphs except that:
Appeal
7. In
accordance with the Terms of Service, any staff member who is removed from
appointment consequent upon the decision of the Committee on Termination of
Appointment may appeal to the Council whose decision shall be final. Such an
appeal must reach the Council within 30 working days from the date of
notification to the staff concerned of the decision of the Committee on
Termination of Appointment. Upon receipt of the appeal, the Chairman of Council
shall decide if there are adequate and reasonable grounds to re-consider the
case based on any new evidences and/or new arguments presented, and accordingly
decide whether or not to form a Committee of Appeal to consider all the
evidences presented and then make a recommendation to the Chairman of Council
whose decision will be final.
7.1 Membership
The Committee of Appeal shall be
constituted by the Chairman of Council & comprising any 5 members of
Council (of which 2 must be lay members) who are not involved in the original
proceedings of the Committee on Termination of Appointment, and with one of the
lay members to be invited as the Chairman.
7.2 Procedures
7.2.1 The staff
concerned may lodge an appeal in writing to the Council. The appeal must be
received within 30 working days from the date of notification to him/her of
his/her termination of appointment.
7.2.2 A
Committee of Appeal, as constituted by the Chairman of Council, shall be formed
within 10 working days upon receipt of the appeal to investigate into the case.
7.2.3 The
Committee shall meet to consider all the evidences presented and review the
record of the proceedings and the recommendations previously made within 30
working days of receipt of the appeal.
7.2.4 The
Committee may receive or obtain new evidences or request the staff concerned to
provide additional information, which must be submitted to the Committee at
least 7 working days before the meeting.
7.2.5 The Committee
shall submit a written report within 10 working days after the meeting to the
Chairman of Council, whose decision shall be final.
7.2.6 The staff
concerned will be notified of the result of his/her appeal within 5 working
days upon the decision of the Chairman of Council.
REMOVAL ON GROUNDS OF REDUNDANCY
8. According to
Clause 16 of Terms of Service A, a staff member "may be removed from
appointment by the Council in any case where it has decided on or required to
make a change in the University staffing requirement, in consequence of which
the appointee is made redundant in that the staffing need which he/she was
appointed to fill no longer exists." In each and every case when changes
in staff requirements result in redundancy, the following steps should be taken
:
8.1 Upon the
recommendation of the President & Vice-Chancellor, the Chairman of the
Personnel Committee shall constitute a Committee on Termination of Appointment
to consider the redundancy situation;
8.2 The membership and working
procedures of the Committee shall be the same as proposed in pars. 6.1 &
6.2 above, except that there are no allegations made against the staff and
there is no need for the staff concerned to defend his/her case;
8.3 The Committee shall look for
evidences of genuine need in changes of staffing requirements and that whether
efforts have been made to offer re-deployment or re-training opportunities to
the staff concerned;
8.4 In the event that
removal from appointment cannot be avoided, the Committee shall recommend for
the severance arrangements, including length of notice period, terminal
benefits and the offer of a compensation package as appropriate.
Personnel Office
December 1999